I wish they didnt close so early on Sunday. Just went to get a pizza and arrived at an empty parking lot. :|

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I wished they opened earlier as well. The ones by me don't open until 10 am. I am an early morning person. I like doing my shopping at busy places like Walmart at 6-7AM. You go to Costco just before 10am it is like a Russian bread line of people waiting to get in all lined up with their giant shopping carts.

I enjoyed the show, even thought it was basically a big commercial for costco.

I wish they'd done a segment on the produce. Up here they have absolutely the highest quality stuff in town, all year round. I would have liked to learn more about how they manage to do that and the detail that goes into it.

I have not finished the show yet but I was impressed by their wine selection. They had essentially a self-trained wine taster and were succeeding in selling high-end wines. I could not believe the prices on some things. I don't know what their worth was, but one of the items in the jewelry case cost more than my house. (I admit I bought my house during the worst time of a depressed real estate market in my area but ....) Since Cosco will only take American Express or cash, I wondered how the person paid for it. Almost $1000 for a bottle of wine. I expect that kind of stuff in the locked case in a high end wine store. Looks like they are beating Bev-mo in that market. The grey market bothers me. I bought a TV there but I suspect LG is one of the brands that has a deal with them and is not grey market.

...Since Cosco will only take American Express or cash, I wondered how the person paid for it...

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They take my VISA debit card just fine.

I would assume they have some other payment options available for a $249,000 ring.

What I was hoping they would discuss was how some of their Kirkland brand goods are actually made by big name companies (such as their Vodka is rumored to be Grey Goose). I assume they couldn't discuss that because of confidentiality agreements.

I have not finished the show yet but I was impressed by their wine selection. They had essentially a self-trained wine taster and were succeeding in selling high-end wines. I could not believe the prices on some things. I don't know what their worth was, but one of the items in the jewelry case cost more than my house. (I admit I bought my house during the worst time of a depressed real estate market in my area but ....) Since Cosco will only take American Express or cash, I wondered how the person paid for it. Almost $1000 for a bottle of wine. I expect that kind of stuff in the locked case in a high end wine store. Looks like they are beating Bev-mo in that market. The grey market bothers me. I bought a TV there but I suspect LG is one of the brands that has a deal with them and is not grey market.

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I was hoping for more details, but other than "limited selection makes people decide quicker" and "max 15% markup" there wasn't much about what makes them tick. The part that made it look a little bit like a fluff piece was there was zero mention about the fact that as a membership store they know every item you've bought ever, as if a grocery store required you to have their membership card and made you use it for every purchase. This has to be a big help in their business decision processes. I also don't remember any mention of not accepting credit cards except for Amex, which also helps their bottom line.

I've always known about the limited selection, but didn't know how it fit in the strategy. There are some basics like deodorant and razor blades I never get at Costco despite the prices as they don't carry my brands. I've always looked at it like coupons, to save the most you have to buy what what they sell with less regard for your personal preference for brand or style.

The wine buyer was interesting, but she really could do most of the buying by getting highest rated/popular wines and then offering them at a much lower markup. I've assumed that the private label stuff is name-brand wine where the winery doesn't want to dilute the brand or has no U.S. distribution and is happy to sell wholesale to Costco.

I wouldn't worry too much about the grey market, that's more for lower volume, higher cost things. There are some companies that tightly control how much their products sell for and go through great pains to prevent any store from selling them at a lower markup and lower price. Costco got into an argument with with Omega watches so Omega started putting a tiny logo on watches sold overseas. This logo they copyrighted in the U.S., preventing it from being sold under copyright law:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703977004575393160596764410.html

This was only touched on briefly in the episode, but the CEO said that what people should be bothered by is companies who manipulate the market to keep their prices high, and I tend to agree. Some companies will only sell to you if you keep the retail price high, adding to the prestige of the product and keeping the profit high for the retailers. Offer it for too low a price and they'll stop selling to you.

I understand for companies who make something like a TV overseas, with a U.S. sales and support arm. If the U.S. group didn't sell the item, and make some profit, they shouldn't be expected fix it for free or answer questions on the phone about it. Online camera stores have been selling overseas versions for years, offering the same camera at 2 prices, one with a U.S. warranty, one with an "International" warranty. You decide if having to send it to Japan for service is worth the discount. (The less scrupulous stores don't tell you it has no US warranty though )

Luckily Costco has a pretty good return/refund policy. If I were to roll the dice by buying from an unauthorized retailer for a product, I'd be most comfortable with them.

Somehow I don't see them accepting a check for $249,000 (plus tax, of course).

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What would it be, a suitcase full of cash? I doubt it would be an impulse buy using a clowns and kittens check from the credit union, but rather a bank check. I guess you could use your black Amex card, but even with a sweetheart deal from Amex the CC fee to Costco would probably be pricey, over $2k even if they only charge Costco 1%

Watching the show and seeing how they kind of boss around the suppliers was quite eye-opening. The Toy section is the one I'm thinking of specifically, but I would guess it's the same in all departments.

My wife has purchased quite a few Carter's brand pajamas for our little kiddos in the past year or two, and she's noticed that the ones bought from Costco are much more likely to have holes or construction problems. She has sworn off jammy purchases from Costco now. I wonder then if Carters's agreed to provide special 'cheaper' jammies to Costco and that is why the quality seems a bit off?

My wife has purchased quite a few Carter's brand pajamas for our little kiddos in the past year or two, and she's noticed that the ones bought from Costco are much more likely to have holes or construction problems. She has sworn off jammy purchases from Costco now. I wonder then if Carters's agreed to provide special 'cheaper' jammies to Costco and that is why the quality seems a bit off?

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In the show weren't they pushing for better quality on the backpack not lower?

What's the advantage to Costco to only accept AMEX? I thought AMEX was usually the most expensive of the card issuers for a retailer to accept, so if they could transfer some of their purchases to VISA or MC, they could save a little money in processing fees. Yes, I'm sure that AMEX is giving them a sweetheart deal in order to be the exclusive credit card accepted, but I can almost guarantee that VISA and/or MC would be happy to match that deal if they could get a piece of the Costco business as well.

What's the advantage to Costco to only accept AMEX? I thought AMEX was usually the most expensive of the card issuers for a retailer to accept, so if they could transfer some of their purchases to VISA or MC, they could save a little money in processing fees. Yes, I'm sure that AMEX is giving them a sweetheart deal in order to be the exclusive credit card accepted, but I can almost guarantee that VISA and/or MC would be happy to match that deal if they could get a piece of the Costco business as well.

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Just a guess, but maybe AmEx doesn't make profit off of Costco transactions at all, and the benefit to AmEx is that it gets people to sign up for cards that they will then use at other establishments where AmEx does make a profit. Visa and Mastercard wouldn't have as much to gain from such a deal, because most people already have those cards.